Annual Publication 2025 FINAL 05292025 accessible - Flipbook - Page 14
MAKING NEVADA
HEALTHIER TOGETHER
BY LAURIE GARCIA
A
s the associated multispecialty
academic
medical practice of the
Kirk Kerkorian School
of Medicine at UNLV,
UNLV Health and the
school of medicine are connected in
more ways than one.
For one, UNLV Health shares the same
goal of making the community healthier.
“Our missions are so aligned with the
school of medicine. We’re here to care
for the community, and we accept all
forms of insurance. We accept Medicare,
Medicaid, and most forms of commercial
insurance,” says Joann Strobbe, MEd,
president and chief executive o昀케cer of
UNLV Health and executive associate
dean for administration at the school of
medicine. “We really have an open door
to really take care of the people in Las
Vegas.”
Established in 2017 by the Nevada
System of Higher Education (NSHE) as
the practice plan for UNLV’s school of
medicine, all of UNLV Health’s physician
members are the clinical faculty of the
school of medicine.
“As a practice plan, we are a separate
organization from the university; we’re
a 501(c)(3) organization, which is a
non-pro昀椀t institution, and we have
members as part of our agreement. So,
all of the clinical faculty at the school of
medicine are members of UNLV Health,”
says Strobbe. “They really become the
physicians seeing patients within UNLV
Health and alongside all of our clinical
operations, our medical students and
residents [are] doing their education and
their training in our clinical settings.”
It is no secret that Nevada needs more
physicians to care for its growing
population. One effective way to bring
more physicians to the state is through
having medical schools and graduate
medical education (GME) programs.
“It’s critical and very important to have a
medical school in a community because
if you have a medical school, 30 to 40%
of your graduates will stay in the state
and practice medicine. If you have
residencies on top of a medical school,
70 to 80% of your residents will stay in
the state,” Strobbe states. “Nevada has
a shortage of MDs across the board,
so every training program that we have
is essential to educating and training
physicians and, therefore, keeping more
docs in the state.”
14 KIRK KERKORIAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT UNLV
